Media

Media releases, reviews, columns and other news about New Zealand’s democracy and constitution

Latest news

www.radionz.co.nz

9 August – Former Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer is concerned the parliamentary select committee tasked with investigating the former Auditor-General Martin Matthews failed to go through the appropriate constitutional process.

www.newsroom.co.nz

3 August – Falling home ownership rates are helping to drive election turnout rates down among the young, while older voters continue to vote for policies that drive house prices even further out of reach, says Bernard Hickey.

www.newsroom.co.nz

www.newsroom.co.nz

2 August –Wellington Central candidates from five parties were all agreed on one thing when they addressed Victoria University students: more people are tuning out from politics, leaving our democracy in need of strengthening. Shane Cowlishaw reports.

National Business Review

4 July – With political polls showing that all is not well with the New Zealand political system and society, we might be as insulated from the worldwide increase in radical politics as we think, says political scientist Bryce Edwards.

www.parliament.nz

30 June – Today marks the 165th anniversary of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, which established New Zealand’s Parliament. It is one of the longest continuously-operating parliaments in the world.

National Business Review

20 June – Sir Geoffrey Palmer’s assertion that democracy is under threat from politicians who hide information and keep decision-making power away from the public, writes political scientist Bryce Roberts.

nzherald.govt.nz

20 June – How democratic is New Zealand’s political culture? With an upcoming general election, it’s a good time to reflect on how we can make politics more transparent, accountable, and useful for the public, writes political scientist Bryce Edwards.

Victoria University of Wellington

19 June –A new report from Victoria University of Wellington questions New Zealand’s long-standing international reputation for integrity and openness, and puts forward ideas to make government more open.

See the report Bridges Both Ways: Transforming the openness of New Zealand governmenthere.

Massey University

15 June – Voters are significantly wealthier, older, more educated, and more likely to be white than eligible non-voters, writes Massey University’s Claire Robinson, but the British election has shown that the young will turn out to vote if they can find good reason to.

Nelson Mail

27 May – Former prime minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer has called on the Nelson City Council to withdraw a draft bylaw that would require a permit to protest, saying it threatens “the rights and freedoms of New Zealanders”.

The Spinoff

22 May – Calls for more civics education in New Zealand schools have become a clamour in recent times, but young New Zealanders are more engaged than we think, and more education might make little difference, argues Bronwyn Wood.

National Business Review

23 May – Mistakes by those in authority can lead to disasters and misfortunes, yet there is often a worrying lack of consequences or accountability for the authorities involved, writes political scientist Bryce Edwards.

National Business Review

23 May – Mistakes by those in authority can lead to disasters and misfortunes, yet there is often a worrying lack of consequences or accountability for the authorities involved, writes political scientist Bryce Edwards.

stuff.co.nz

12 May – Voting is only one aspect of a healthy democracy. New Zealand needs need ways for citizens to play a more active role in shaping the laws and policies they are subject to, political scientists Emily Beausoleil and Max Rashbrooke.

Newsroom

NZ Law Society

10 May – Professor Neil Siegel of Duke Law School, who is visiting New Zealand to give the 2017 Borrin lecture at Victoria university on constitutional law and norms in the current US political climate. Here, he speaks with Justice David Collins of the High Court and Cate Honoré Brett of the NZ Law Society.

www.stuff.co.nz

2 May – New Zealand drops eight places in Reporters Without Borders’ annual press freedom report, with the Government’s misuse of the Official Information Act obstructing journalists and proposed new laws gagging whistleblowers.

ipanz.org.nz

April 2017 – Miriam Bookman of the law firm Russell McVeagh reviews our proposals and considers the implications for New Zealand’s public service – including its independence and ability to give free and frank advice.

Newstalk NZ

26 March – New Zealanders won’t get true transparency from the Official Information Act so long as Ministers can pretend they were acting in their party political capacity, says Newstalk ZB’s Felix Marwick.

NZ Herald

2 March 2017 – The United States’ experience under Donald Trump brings into sharp focus the question of how New Zealand safeguards its democracy and hard-won rights and freedoms, writes constitutional lawyer Susanne Ruthven.

www.spinoff.co.nz

6 March 2017 – While some may believe New Zealanders don’t care about their constitutional arrangements, feedback about A Constitution for Aotearoa New Zealand proves that wrong, writes Sir Geoffrey Palmer.

www.thespinoff.co.nz

20 February – The turmoil being witnessed in America at least illustrates the necessity of constitutional checks. It should spur New Zealand to adopt its own written, codified constitution, writes former prime minister Geoffrey Palmer.

Media release

13 Feb – The Opportunities Party has released its ‘Democracy Reset’ policy, recommending a written constitution and an upper house among other measures to restore participation and confidence in NZ’s democracy.

Media release

7 Feb – Greens co-leader James Shaw has called for New Zealand to adopt a written constitution ‘to make the Government fulfil its responsibilities on climate change, human rights and a host of other things’.

Media release

7 Feb – Greens co-leader James Shaw has called for New Zealand to adopt a written constitution ‘to make the Government fulfil its responsibilities on climate change, human rights and a host of other things’.

E Tangata

5 Feb – The Treaty of Waitangi and tikanga Māori are partially recognised in New Zealand law, but there’s still more work to be done, says New Zealand Māori Council chair and former High Court judge and Waitangi Tribunal chair Sir Taihakurei Durie.

www.newsroom.co.nz

National Business Review

20 June – Sir Geoffrey Palmer’s assertion that democracy is under threat from politicians who hide information and keep decision-making power away from the public, writes political scientist Bryce Roberts.

7 April 2017 – In this landmark interview with Radio NZ’s Guyon Espiner, Sir Geoffrey Palmer discusses his time as prime minister and explains why New Zealand needed to change when the fourth Labour government was elected in the 1980s.